Tips And Advice For The Best Cake Decorations

Have you always wondered how the best bakers manage to pull off the best manage decorations? Well, with little or no experience, you can also manage to do it on your own.

If you are a beginner into cake baking and would love to create the best cake decorations, here are some of the best tips you should consider.

1. Freezing Your Cake

You need to consider freezing the cake layers for a few hours before you start frosting. That way you can have a firmer surface that makes frosting it easier. For proper freezing, you should let the layers cool down before leveling them and wrap them in plastic wrap. You can wrap them individually or use parchment paper to separate them. Make sure no part of the cake is exposed. If you are freezing the cake for longer, you should add some aluminum foil on top of the plastic wrap to prevent any smells from permeating into the cake.

2. Crumb Coat

It refers to a thin layer of frosting that will prevent any loose crumbs from getting outside the cake. After stacking many layers with frosting or filling, you should spread a thin layer of frosting on the outside. It’s advisable to scrape off the spatula before dipping it into the container with the frosting to prevent transference of crumbs. That way, you can make sure that the frosted surface is smooth and free of crumbs.

3. Use A Bench Scrapper

If you want to achieve smooth edges on the final layer as well as the crumb coat, you need to use a bench scrapper. By placing it in your dominant hand and grip the turntable with the other hand, you can turn it completely for a full rotation. For the best results, you should start rotating the cake and press the bench scrapper on the side, while rotating at an even pace. Release the pressure slowly as you rotate the cake then scrape off the bench scrapper. Repeat until you achieve the desired smooth surface. It might take a lot of practice to get it right.

4. Scallops

If you are looking for an easy cake decoration without requiring a lot of tools, you can try out scallops. With a Ziploc bag and spoon, you are good to go. Start by filing the bag with frosting then snip the corner. Hold the tip of the bag perpendicular to the cake surface then start piping dollops in medium sizes in a vertical line starting from the bottom of your cake going upwards. Use the spoon to press down the dollops and start swiping until the cake is covered completely.

5. Try Out A Few Piping Techniques

You can pipe on the cake to create amazing effects. For instance, you can use star piping to cover the entire cake in roses and stars. Remember, it needs a steady hand to pull out the best effects so learn how to hold the piping properly before pressing for the best results.

6. Cutouts

You can add a few cutouts to the cake for a whimsical effect. You can do this by kneading liquid food coloring or gel into the marzipan then roll it out. Cut out your desired shapes and stick them on the cake. You can dust the marzipan cut out with some powdered sugar to remove any stickiness.

7. Ombre Effects

Ombre cakes always look amazing and create the best illusions. To pull off this look, you need to divide your frosting into separate bowls. You can create 2 kinds of frosting for different layers of cakes. You can create an ombre effect of descending or ascending dark colors depending on your preferences. You can create the best effects by adding food color to each frosting making each color darker than the other for the best results.

8. Writings

Regardless of the message you are writing on the cake, you should expect it to be a challenge, especially for beginners. You can practice on something else before doing it on the cake. For the best results, you should use the right amount of piping and chilled frosting to make sure each individual letter dries out completely. Make sure the frosting is dry too so you should freeze your cake for a while.